To be better
by Melancholy's Sunshine
Summary: Sasuke wanted to be better than Itachi. Too bad Naruto had to get dragged into it. Adoptable.
1. Chapter 1

"How is he?"

"Physically? He's fine. Mentally, well, he hasn't said a word."

"Well, considering what happened..."

The two doctors gave each other a look, expressing their concern over the child's mental health. Alas, there was only so much they could do, given that no adult was his guardian now. A somber survivor of a massacre. The one leaving without any help. The Uchiha. Sasuke. The second son of the head family.

He had been distant, though no one could blame him. He was all alone.

No one had wanted to let him leave the hospital, but ran out of time to hold him.

He returned to the academy, seemingly numb to the world. Everyone kept their distance.

It was fine with him. It let him think about what he would need to do in order kill his elder brother. To be _better_ than him.

"It's not so bad," a voice broke him from his thoughts. His dark eyes narrowed in on the owner of the voice. A dirty, blond he had seen before in the village and academy. His shirt was torn and his cheek was swollen. But his lips were quirked upward in a smile.

"It will get better," the boy muttered to himself. Sasuke watched as the boy seemed to brighten.

"Hey."

The boy looked over and beamed at Sasuke. His blue eyes were bright and full of energy. He opened his mouth to speak when another yelled over him.

"There you are you brat!"

The blond's smile disappeared and he took off in a wild run, faster than Sasuke had seen any other kid run as the man who yelled chased him. Sasuke blinked in confusion as he tried to register what had just happened. He brushed it off initially. But it seemed everywhere he went, he saw the little blond boy. And he saw the boy smiling through everything thrown at him.

Smiling like a little kid. An innocent, naïve, little kid. Like a little brother.

Sasuke was unsure why he thought that. But he didn't, _absolutely abhor_ the idea. There was something about him that made Sasuke feel he could do just about anything. Maybe it was the carefree smile despite the fact he should be crying like any other kid probably would. Well, he _had_ been crying, but he... He stopped. He stopped himself from crying.

Why did it stick with him? Was it because he reminded him... Reminded him of life before? When Itachi had been his parents' pride and joy? Something he resented, mainly from his father. Never thinking he could be good enough.

He wanted to be better than Itachi. He wanted to beat him. Beat him in everything.

Everything.

And whoever the blond boy was, he could help him with _part_ of his plan to get better. Better than the prodigy Itachi.

 **Sasuke went through mental hell after Itachi massacred his clan. He was all alone. He could have isolated himself, revenge being all he could think about. But the next day, after slipping out of the hospital to begin his obsession of beating his brother, he runs into Naruto Uzumaki, and sees what he lives in day in and out. Something that day makes Sasuke's obsession, warp. After all, Sasuke wanted to beat Itachi. Kill him even. But he wanted to beat him in everything. Could he beat him by being a better big brother?**

 **Rule 1. Sasuke is still an "Emo" kid.**

 **Rule 2. Naruto is still Naruto.**

 **Rule 3. Members of the village notice and either enjoy seeing this little relationship, or are terrified of it.**

 **Bonus: Sasuke has overprotective tendencies.**


	2. Chapter 2

Naruto wasn't quite sure when it happened, but he couldn't deny that something had changed.

He had grown in the village with the old man and the ramen man and his daughter with few others who seemed to care about him. Many ignored or glared at him.

And then there was the whole Sasuke thing. He was different. Somehow. The old man told Naruto he had lost his entire family. Naruto could relate to feeling alone. It was all he ever knew really.

He still didn't know why Sasuke had started _appearing_ around him.

They were never close. He was the class golden boy from a high class albiet dead clan where he was an orphan shunned by society.

Yet, out of the blue, not long after his clan had died, Naruto noticed that he had some... Odd things about him. For one, he never just sat down in class. He seemed to wait until the bell rang before sitting. This of course led to a lot of the girls not letting anyone sit next to them in hopes Sasuke would, making the boys grumble, unable to sit because of the girls.

He actually did have a certain, seating routine... For some reason, he started sitting next to Naruto. Naruto was perplexed at first, but it quickly grew to irritation. For some inane reason, Sasuke was preventing him from sneaking out of class with Shikamaru, Choji and Kiba.

Not that Sasuke could always stop him. But it was certainly harder when the person sitting next to him was actively trying to keep him in class. Even worse, he wouldn't let him fall asleep. Everytime he was zoning out or falling asleep, he'd get a sharp kick to his leg or a jab to his stomach.

Naruto was disliking Sasuke more and more. Even if his test scores were getting better.

Sasuke would get this odd smug smile when Naruto scored decently that lasted only for a moment.

Perhaps it wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't been showing up outside of school too.

He seemed to know when Naruto would go to the ramen shop.

He showed up when he was shopping with groceries, mocking him and tricking him into getting more expensive fruits and vegetables instead of deliciously cheap cup ramen.

And then there was the clothing incident. Sasuke apparently was getting rid of old things in the Uchiha compound that were not getting use and deposited many black shirts and pants to his apartment.

Naruto was hardly amused. He was not wearing anything Sasuke gave him. He was a master prankster. There was no way he was going to fall for that trick.

Itching powder in clothes was a basic and classic trick. Sasuke would have to try harder than that. Nevermind the hard glint Naruto would see in his eyes when he came in not wearing the clothes.

There was a slight change among the villagers too. While hatred and disgust lingered in their eyes, there was worry and confusion too when Sasuke would make an appearance.

Time melted by slowly as the young shinobi to be grew older and prepared for their future lives as soldiers. Shops had somehow lost all their orange clothes when he came into their store changing Naruto's bright clothes to more subdued brunt orange accented brown outfit.

He also began to pick up on when ever Sasuke was around. Almost like a sixth sense.

It came in handy when it came to dealing with the girls in the class. It was the mildest form of retaliation when he told them exactly where the broody prince was. Naruto wasn't quite sure what the look on Sasuke's face was but it was hilariously worth it.

It was hardly welcome when Sasuke started interfering with his life, even as a small part of him was elated to be able to have someone he could possibly, maybe on occasion call a _friend._

Not that he'd ever admit it aloud. Sasuke was a big enough pain without having to bring up the f- word.

Nope. Better to try and keep his distance for as long as he could.

Soon enough, they would be testing to be actual shinobi. He could leave Sasuke and ignore this strange and overly focused Sasuke.

 **So... *shrugs*... I wrote a small add on. Maybe I should continue? Maybe not. It could be funny. Also, I have a poll up for my next story idea. Feel free to check it out.**


End file.
